The Athens Jazz Festival kicks off Friday evening and continues through the week.
Friday night collegiate jazz educators from around the region will gather and play together for the first time with very little rehearsal.
Friday will kick off the Athens Jazz Festival, which includes three nights of music from students and professionals in the area.
“If people have never experienced jazz before, it’s a great opportunity to come and do it in a non-threatening way because you’re not buying a ticket,” said Sean Parsons, assistant professor of music theory and jazz. “The performers are very accessible during breaks and such. People can talk to them and have that sort of experience with them.”
The first performance will have little preparation, but Parsons said he has been eager to bring professionals together who wouldn’t normally have the chance to play together in an ensemble, even though it is a challenge to play the same style the same way in unison.
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The visiting musicians have studied the pieces throughout their careers, and some have had the chance to play alongside the original performers, Parsons said.
“It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s going to swing; it’s going to be great,” Parsons said.
The festival adds something different to the jazz scene in Athens because acclaimed musicians are partaking in the event and will being playing high-caliber music, Parsons said. Two guest artists will join the festival Jazz Ensemble I’s performance on Saturday, he added.
“Any time you can bring a professional –– someone who is acclaimed in their field –– to campus to sit next to the students, to have dinner with those students, to play music with those students, it’s an enriching experience for everybody, not just the students but the guests as well,” Parsons said.
A clinic will also take place on Saturday where the high school and middle school bands have the chance to play for the guest artists, said Joe Kuhlman, a second-year graduate student studying conducting and the conductor of Jazz Ensemble II.
Jazz Combos are playing at Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, 24 W. Union St., Sunday evening, which will be a more informal experience with standard jazz repertoire, Parsons said.
Because it is a smaller group, the music isn’t completely written out or arranged and rather is dictated by the performers, Parsons said.
The Athens Jazz Festival brings awareness to OU’s jazz program, offers opportunities to the students and draws in a large crowd, especially because of some of the guest artists, Kuhlman said.
“It’s kind of the culmination of the year for the jazz program," Kuhlman said. “It really builds up to this.”
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